Worst Foul Call in the History of the NBA?

I’ve been watching NBA basketball a long time. Without aging myself too much up in here, i’ll just say a very very long time. I have never, in all the years of watching this sport at any level, seen a foul call this obviously absurd. I’ve got a lot of respect for Joey Crawford, but clearly ‘the human factor’ was present on this play. Joey just messed up, plain and simple. By no means did this poor call affect the outcome though which is a positive:

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Wow! Neither team seemed to know what was going on there, and rightfully so. Maybe Crawford was having a stroke at the time.

yabutsk

Nah, Horry’s clothesline on Nash was worse in every way. In this case it’s just a ref who musses up, in the previous case it’s the NBA who got it wrong despite having time to reflect on the situation. Just goes to show that the rules are just proxies of conduct, and referee discretion ultimately renders any game result an approximate result.

justin

this WAS a crucial moment in the game, Portland was coming back and having Camby in foul trouble was huge. It wasn’t even a foul on Hill, people fight through screens all the time way harder and never get called. sheesh…. Hill didn’t even have a good pick he could have been called for a moving screen if anything.

duane

you kno,…..this really VALIDATES Tim Donaghy and his book…
As a guy who has ref’d for 30 yrs myself, let me say: down the stretch, and you dont want to make any such calls too late in the game cuz…they’re too obvious…
but its funny how a ‘little help’ seemingly insignificant, but say, putting a 4th foul on a player in the 3Q affects the whole mindset of the players…changes momentum…
Makes you wonder how Crawford stands on “NBA traveling calls’
as for the NBA: the old codgers they get to referee – what?? There are a hundred thousand young and up coming guys DYING to ref at a ‘higher level’ so why does the NBA keep these bald guys going end-to-end way past their rocking chair days?? Mendy Rudolph; Crawford; Bavetta; …I mean, hey, they’ve ref’d since Wilt wore White hightops….
The NBA’s contract with ref’s generally makes sure they dont ‘re-enter’ at the intercollegiate or secondary level. I shouldn’t be a contract for life. No NBA ref should ever ref longer than the ‘average’ player plays…say 3-5 years.

Dr. Smooth

I dunno. Those absolutely ridiculous fouls called against Brad Miller and Noah on Shaq last night directly affected the game, so those could be considered even worse.

Alex

The old man messed up and put Nash on the line instead of Hill. Not a conspiracy. Just a fuck-up.

eric

i agree with duane that this call was not insignificant. i watched this game and it seems to me that the blazers were able to run their offense extremely well with camby in, not to mention his defensive presence. when he was given this foul call and had to sit down the suns were able to push the tempo again and there wasn’t much portland could do about it. a team like the blazers that had to trade for a guy who can play center because both of theirs were injured during the season can not afford to have that only big man to get into foul trouble. that is exactly what crawford did when the game was becoming competitive again in the 3rd quarter.

agreed this call was bad, but i feel like smaller market teams get this sort of treatment all the time in every sport. as a non-yankees/lakers fan i have become extremely used to these calls. i don’t believe they decide games, but i do think larger market teams in pro sports have a huge advantage in the reffing/ umpiring. i remember being disgusted to the point of laughing at the number of absurd calls in the steelers/seahawks superbowl that went against seattle.

grant hill should be shooting not nash cus camby apparently reached at hills throat in the mixup during when the screen was set…but neways fucked call by a fucked up ol man…
peace love &pot

sam

this completely changed the game, are you kidding me? the second Camby left the game they went on an 11-2 run, while the Blazers had all of the momentum. during that span? phoenix had 5 offensive rebounds. completely changed the series, one stupid call. i’m not even a blazers fan and this bugged the crap out of me.

jr

sorry no one respects joey crawford

tdinc1

Corruption at its finest in the NBA. I wonder how much payola was stuffed in his pocket?…. For the league or the weasel known as Davis Stern not to bring this matter to full attention is a joke just like the league……….FAIL

Dennis Maier

No, i think alot of you can’t see the bigger picture here. What has gone on lately? Well, we have had alot of players complaining about “ghost calls”. instead of a further investigation or repremanding by the NBA or Stern, we have seen Stern fine players for speaking their mind. Quote” We just can’t have the officiating being questioned. People may think that the refs are fixing the games.”
This crooked corporate scum actually said that. The truth. Well the real truth is, is that David Stern called off any further investigation of the referees of the NBA after Donaughy was the fall man for the gambling on games charges. Meaning all the ref’s that Donaughy in testimony said were in on the fixing of NBA games never got investigated. Another fact is that the NBA is the only league in pro sports that allows it’s ref’s to gamble, or sports gamble. Many of the refs in the NBA organization are regulars in Atlantic City, sports gambling mecca of the east coast. Bottom line is, is now all these horrible calls are completely evident now. When you have the best coach in the league as well as 5 stars in the first round complain about ghost calls, star calls, lopsided free throw attempts or make up calls, we definitely have a problem on our hands. All of these accusations are exactly what Donaughy was charged for, and eventually went to jail for. This league, ref’s, and commissioner should be investigated, and jailed on fraud. The real truth of what they are guilty of, is fixing scores and benefiting off outcomes that are already manufactured by the hierarchy of the league. This doesn’t mean they can call a score before it happens, just the winner of a match. We all need to criticize the ref’s, and make this observation more of movement towards ending corruption in the NBA, if we want the league we love to not suffer the loss of integrity that may be altering the outcomes today. Thank you all for reading, KEEP BALL”N
D Maier

Sheesh, stop whining you bunch of wussies. Camby grabbed Grant Hill as he went by – do you see Hill complain to the ref? You can’t see it very well from the angle on the replay. They only screwed up by putting Nash on the line – should have been Hill. Anyway who gives a crap – both of these teams will be at home in a few weeks. Lakers will prevail, again.

The officiating in the NBA has been terrible for quite awhile now, but the problems run deeper.

David Stern refuses to acknowledge that the NBA has a problem (even after the Tim D fiasco), not to mention top league brass refuse to give the officials resources like a training center – or even a comprehensive training program. Most are simply picked out of the college game and thrown into the fire. As a result, officials’ have admitted that their moral is very low, and the longtime officials who have complete union backing often do things like call fouls on guys who are fifteen feet away.

Blazers had it within 7 points and were in the middle of a small run. This “foul” put Camby on the bench with 4 fouls while sending Nash (best FT shooter in the game) to the line for 2 points. I wouldn’t exactly say it didn’t affect the outcome.

Jacob E

Crawford is a crook and shouldn’t be officiating. He kicked Tim Duncan out of a playoff game for laughing. Youtube it.

If there was a foul to be called it should have been on Hill for a moving pick. As Hill went around Roy he moved out and hit Camby. That is the only potential foul on this play.

The fact that Joey Crawford put Nash (team and leagues best free throw shooter) on the line and both of the other refs were too intimidated to correct this makes their officiating qualifications and their calls suspect. They do not deserve the confidence of the fans, players, coaches, franchise owners, and league. Mr. David Stern, You want to talk about what is corrosive to confidence of the fans now (again this week)?

To those who want to simply dismiss this as not having an impact on the game outcome. You are obviously either in denial or just do not understand the situation of the game and context of this call. Blazers had be down by 14 and were currently in the middle of a comeback run, bring them within 7 (58 -65) midpoint of the 3rd quarter. Very winnable game for Blazers at this point, and Camby was a big part of the comeback run. This call gave Camby his 4th foul, effectively putting him on the bench. Big momentum swing took place due to this. Huge game changer.

All three of these refs should be suspended. Joey Crawford both for calling a phantom foul, and compounding it by putting the wrong player (team and leagues best free throw shooter to boot) on the free throw line. The other two refs for being too intimidated to challenge and correct the situation.

You’ve got a lot of respect for Joey Crawford?? What the hell have you been watching all these years??

SlamDunks.TV

this so stupid! i don’t know about if it the “Worst Foul Call in the History of the NBA”, but maybe in top 3.

drush

tldr but no. the worst foul call(s) in the history of the NBA happened during the 2002 western conference finals.

Reginald

Morons. Camby grabbed a dudes neck when he was running right after the right second set of the right circle circling camby. You can read the reffs body language. He said he grabbed his neck. This video sucks.

Inez Deborah Emilia Altar

My mother´s computer had to have a hacker´s illicit download removed at the repair shop and this public computer will not let me see the video, but all too often any kind of power positions even that of a referee get abused.

Numerology Calculator

The officials in the NBA have a huge effect on the outcome of a game more so than any other sport. We have seen many games decided by the officiating just another reason why I have lost so much interest in the NBA.

I agree the video points on steve nash SO hard making you only watch him…and its 100% obvious he WASNT fouled,,but he did put his arm out and catch the other guy on offense, and as SOON as he brought his arm back from that “clothesline” the ref called it..so again…only mistake was sending the wrong person to the line, i would be pissed if i got hit in the adams apple w.a grown mans arm, and i would want a foul called…
they need to do a better job of making sure they are picking the right people tho i mean simple mistake…but for the people determining the outcome of the game….simple mistakes like that are flat out unacceptable